YMCA locking doors in early morning
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Brandon’s YMCA is keeping its doors locked early in the morning as a proactive security measure for the winter.
The doors to the building at 231 Eighth St. will be locked Monday to Friday from the time the facility opens at 5:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. They will remain unlocked until the end of the day.
The YMCA announced the change in an email Monday.
Lon Cullen, president and CEO of the Brandon YMCA, stands outside the front entrance to the Dood Cristall Family YMCA in downtown Brandon on Wednesday. The YMCA has announced that its front doors will be locked Monday to Friday from opening time at 5:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. Members can access the Y by scanning their membership card at a newly installed scanner outside the doors. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“There’s a perception that downtown is unsafe, and we are also very, very concerned with our staff and members who are coming into the building early in the morning,” president and CEO Lon Cullen said in an interview Monday.
“We just wanted to really get in front of the situation, not that we have one right now.”
Members and staff can enter the building by scanning their membership card or YMCA app barcode. The scanner is located on the wall to the left of the entrance door, the email said. People who forget their card can knock to be let in.
The email said the YMCA will be trialing the new procedure for the winter session.
“We want to make sure that we’re a welcoming place, and we know that all the members who come in are hardcore at six in the morning when they want to go for a swim or go for a workout and participate in a class,” Cullen said.
The YMCA regularly sees about 30 people use the facility early in the morning, he said.
By 8 a.m., many more staff members are working in the building, Cullen said.
“(It’s) out of an abundance of caution as much as anything else.”
There will be no change on Saturday and Sunday as the building opens at 8 a.m. on those days.
» alambert@brandonsun.com